Leona Christine Poirier July 5, 1936 – November 15, 2024 Leona Christine (Marinacci) Poirier, 88, of Norridgewock, Maine, passed away at the Bedside Manor Memory Care Center in Oakland, Maine on Friday, November 15, 2024, where she had been a resident for over five years. Leona, who was known by her friends as "Lee," was born on July 5, 1936, in Everett, Mass. She was the oldest of two children born to Leo and Mary (Azzone) Marinacci. Her father had a small janitorial company and picked up additional jobs wherever he could. Her mother was a homemaker but had a serious medical condition that frequently sent her to the hospital. Leona grew up in a little house in Belmont that her father worked tirelessly to afford. Her childhood was filled with many challenges that forced her to grow up quickly and take life seriously. Her mother's frequent health issues meant that Leona had to do a lot around the house and take care of her brother, John, who was ten years younger. She found great solace and direction in her Catholic faith, which sustained her through many difficult times. As a girl, she did not have a lot of free time to pursue youthful recreations, but she loved to ice skate and found it invigorating to speed across frozen ponds during the long Boston winters. Lee attended Framingham State Teacher's College, now Framingham State University, from 1954 to 1958. She always wanted to be a teacher and especially work with young children. She did not have much money, so she had to work throughout the academic year, often as a waitress and a camp counselor in the summer. She met her future husband, Joe Poirier, when one of her friends was dating his roommate in Boston. One weekend, the friend invited Lee to accompany her on a trip into the city to visit her boyfriend with the incentive that "you might like his roommate, Joe." The girls went to the apartment, but Joe was not there. He was still working and did not expect the impromptu "blind date." When Joe finally did come home, he found her asleep on his bed. She had been waiting for hours and, in the simple bachelor apartment, furniture was scarce. Joe always got a kick out of telling that story! They dated on and off for a couple of years and finally got married early in the morning of July 4, 1959, in Framingham, Massachusetts. There were only about ten guests at their wedding, which was followed by a humble reception at a nearby Howard Johnson's restaurant for brunch. The newlyweds went on their honeymoon in Florida, where they visited Lee's parents, who retired there and could not attend the wedding. That October Joe enlisted in the United States Army. After Basic Training, Joe reported for his first assignment at the post hospital in Ft. Devens, Mass. Lee joined him, and they lived in a small apartment above a pharmacy in the neighboring town of Townsend. The newlyweds enjoyed walking to the town square on summer nights to listen to the local band playing in the gazebo. During that time, Lee worked as an elementary school teacher and had many fond memories of her students. She found it especially rewarding working with children who had difficulty learning or reading and helping them overcome their challenges. (Even as her memory began to fail in recent years, you could often get an animated response from her by asking her questions about her time as a young teacher.) Now a registered pharmacist, Joe completed his term of enlistment with the Army and took a job as a pharmaceutical sales representative with Eli Lilly and Company. This demanding career required them to move many times early in their marriage. Though Joe and Lee always wanted to raise a large family, God had other plans. They eventually adopted two infant children - first, Christopher, and later, LauraLee. In her early thirties, and living in Huntington, Conn. Lee was diagnosed with cancer, the start of a life-long struggle with the disease. Many years later, her cancer was in total remission, surprising her oncologists, who said less than 5% of those similarly afflicted ever survived. Eventual recovery was not without pain and complications, including major surgery and bouts of radiation & chemotherapy. Despite the hardships, Lee always remained positive. She attributed her miraculous recovery to the healing power of God who played such an integral part of her faith-filled life. The Poirier family eventually settled in Concord, Mass. Lee and Joe loved the area's rich history and took advantage of many of the town's community activities such as revolutionary war reenactments, parades, Community Theater, outdoor concerts and visiting a variety of historic landmarks there and in Boston. Lee always stayed very active by attending classes at the local community college, taking piano lessons, and participating in a variety of creative art workshops. She donated many volunteer hours to Meals-on-Wheels and a program to promote literacy with the inmates at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Concord. One of her more enduring hobbies was making dried flower arrangements. When she had spotted interesting flowers and weeds growing by the side of the road, she would stop and collect her specimens with the hand clippers she always kept in the car. This made for some adventurous pit stops when travelling down the interstate! She also enjoyed painting with watercolors after taking classes at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln. Lee was very involved at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church in West Concord, where she assisted in many parish ministries, especially as a catechist and Confirmation coordinator. Both she and Joe were active in Marriage Encounter; attended many Catholic retreat programs; and participated in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) through weekly prayer meetings and Mass at the Espousal Center in nearby Waltham. When Joe retired from Eli Lilly in 1995, they moved from Concord to Plymouth, another historic Massachusetts town. There they enjoyed being close to the beaches and participating in the parish life at St. Mary's in North Plymouth. They both served as lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and volunteered for many charitable outreach activities to feed and care for the poor. For several years, Joe and Lee would pack up their minivan and travel to the Gulf Coast to spend a few winter months on Dauphin Island, Ala. They would visit with Lee's brother and his family from Florida and reconnect with retired friends and relatives who would stop by for an extended stay. Around 2013, Lee began to show subtle signs of memory loss and both behavioral and physiological changes indicative of Alzheimer's disease. This began another arduous chapter in her life with increasing physical challenges and dependency on others, especially her husband. Despite this, the couple continued enjoying their usual activities like parish ministries, eating out and visiting their children and grandchildren in Massachusetts and Vermont. Lee loved spending time with her grandchildren. She would take them on outings to the beach, the mall, museums, and nature walks. There were many Christmas visits to Vermont when she would have her three granddaughters lie on the floor as she led them through Pilates exercises – always very entertaining! She would frequently take each grandchild aside individually and reaffirm them by saying, "You can do anything you put your mind to" and, when they were experiencing difficulties, "Don't let the buzzards get you down!" Joe and Lee moved to Norridgewock, Maine in 2018 to be close to Joe's hometown of Skowhegan and his brothers, sisters, and old friends. Lee's rapid onset of Alzheimer's symptoms within that first year made caring for her at home an increasing challenge for Joe. Begrudgingly, he decided to move Lee to a long-term memory care facility in Oakland, only about 20 minutes away. While the decision broke his heart, he realized this was the safest place for her to get the care she deserved. Joe would visit nearly every day but became increasingly saddened with Lee's declining ability to interact with him. He knew his visits made her happy, but he was still discouraged that he could not take away her discomfort and communicate with her the way they were accustomed. He would sing songs to her, hoping to get a smile or verbal acknowledgment, but these reactions also became less and less frequent. In the past couple of years, Lee's ability to interact became even more impaired as the disease slowly took over her life. She would sometimes acknowledge when someone would visit her by saying, "thank you" in a surprisingly clear voice, but was not very verbal otherwise. She seemed to appreciate visitors who could share stories or pray with her, but her inability to communicate verbally and diminishing food intake and weakness often prevented her from speaking or even opening her eyes. Lee's body eventually yielded to the effects of the disease, and she gradually passed away in her sleep. The day before she died, she had just enjoyed an extended visit with her daughter, LauraLee, who came to see her Thursday afternoon and remained with her well into the night telling her stories and praying with her. LauraLee was very concerned about her mother's shallow breathing - Lee had been under hospice care for the past few months as she was suffering from the later stages of Alzheimer's disease. Bedside Manor called LauraLee at 6:00 am Friday morning and told that her mother had died in her sleep just moments ago. Leona is survived by her son Chris and his wife Linda Poirier of Vermont with grandson Matt and his wife Remay and great-grandson Matthew Poirier, granddaughter Melissa with great-grandson Trevor Poirier, granddaughter Marlena Poirier, and granddaughter Madeline Poirier; along with her daughter LauraLee with grandson Tyler and his wife Sofia Leavitt, and granddaughter Laurielle Leavitt. She was predeceased by her husband Joe in January of 2024, her mother and father Leo and Mary Marinacci, and her brother John. She was also tragically predeceased by her grandson, Michael Poirier. Lee was loved by many other relatives and friends, especially Joe's extended family who welcomed them to Maine and have been such a big part of her life over the years. Lee will be missed but is now enjoying the eternal peace that she so much deserves. Visiting hours will be on Tuesday morning, November 26, 2024, from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the Somerset Valley Remembrance Center, 19 Washburn Lane, Skowhegan, Maine, (207) 474-0000. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on that same day at 11:00 a.m. at Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, 291 Water St., Skowhegan, Maine. The burial ceremony will follow the funeral Mass at Calvary Cemetery, North Ave., Skowhegan, Maine.